Paying for your education ain’t cheap, much less paying for a reasonable standard of living so that your studies aren’t impeded by thoughts of “What will I eat this week?” or “How likely am I to be homeless by the end of the week”. Although many undergraduates pursue low paid low skilled part time work in their down time, there are some who feel no need to wait until their graduation to fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions, devising side hustles, building their own businesses and establishing themselves as freelancers. Your education imbues you with skills that are enormously valuable to individuals and businesses alike, and so it makes perfect sense to monetize your talents in order to ensure that your higher education isn’t impeded by money troubles.  

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Whether you’re writing content, producing videos, building apps or websites, providing tuition for your fellow students or providing technical or IT support to small businesses, it’s essential that while you’re earning your crust you place the infrastructure to protect yourself as a geeky gun for hire...

Protect yourself from plagiarism

If you’ll be making money with your prodigious writing talent you may think that all you need to do is start writing and the rest will take care of itself. And while this may well be the case, it behoves you to protect yourself from plagiarism. When you write content you are the legal owner of that content (unless it’s white label or ghostwritten content) and as such you need to protect yourself from others plagiarising your work. If someone else claims ownership of what you’ve written it may cast aspersions on your reputation that your budding freelance career could do without. That’s why you should use anti-plagiarism software like Copyscape and Grammarly.

Know who to turn to when you need legal help

If you’re providing technical, IT or digital marketing support to small businesses you may be entrusted with potentially sensitive data. While there will be legally enforceable contracts protecting their interests, their contracts may well be less interested in your protection. While it’s unlikely, should something go awry with their sensitive data you may find yourself blames and facing legal charges for something you had no part in which is why it’s important to know what to look for in a white collar crime attorney. Even though it’s extremely unlikely doesn't mean that there’s no chance that it will happen to you, and so it’s in your best interests to ensure that you know how to protect yourself.

Guard your anonymity with a VPN

When you’re working in the digital realm, you may well find yourself producing content that while well constructed is contentious for those who consume it. You may garner vitriolic dislike for your work or on the other hand you may garner the unwelcome attentions of an internet superfan. It doesn’t take the technically savvy long to determine your IP address and from there work out where you live. Thus, it’s always a worthwhile precaution to use a Virtual Private Network or VPN when submitting work.

In entrepreneurship, as in all things, it always pays to be careful!